[As that sky full of black lightning drew closer to the ground, you finally saw it clearly.]

[That wasn't lightning at all, it was ruptured space!]

[Look closely, beyond those rifts were bizarre spatial turbulences, dreamlike but full of danger.]

"Something's wrong, a hundred percent wrong!"

"The Traffic Light marks your vision in unprecedented red!"

"Finals paused! Evacuate this area now!"

The Martial King–level judges struggled between the spatial cracks, dodging desperately as they shouted to you.

Lives came first, everyone fled toward Yunshu Island.

At that moment, another cracking thunderclap sounded from the sky, the terrifying pressure slamming you all to the ground.

A voice from the Ten Thousand Souls Golden Banner called out, it was Hu Chacha.

"Master! That sounds like the Qiankun Space Cannon!"

You widened your eyes.

"Are you sure?!"

The Qiankun Space Cannon is used together with a Demon Seed.

The Dragon-Man tribe can fire across from the Dragon-Man Realm at the world containing the Demon Seed, opening a brief gap.

But the Demon Seed was already eaten by Black Wind!

It dissolved at the entry point!

Their technology can't be that overpowered, right? The Demon Seed was digested into dung, how could it still be used to locate us?!

Ridiculous!

Hu Chacha seemed to sense your doubt and explained.

"Master, that shot probably wasn't aimed at the Demon Seed. The attack's power was enormous; if it had been aimed at the Demon Seed it would have shattered it, which wouldn't be worth the cost!"

"Then what is going on? Did the Dragon-Man tribe start the assault early?!"

You looked up, and under the scrutiny of the Aura of Ten Thousand Races, you clearly saw it.

From those irregular spatial rifts in the sky, faint threads of Dragon-Man tribe aura were indeed leaking out.

That proved the attack truly came from the Dragon-Man Realm!

"Crack, crack, crack..."

More and more rifts covered the sky from above.

The pitch-black lightning was like apocalypse, a terrifying storm sweeping the heavens and earth. The sea fell into darkness, even light was blocked out by the spatial anomalies. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Tide Wind Island was encircled by spatial cracks; you and the other candidates stood on the shore with nowhere to go.

Mountain River Armor acted to protect its master, rising from your surface to block an attack you couldn't dodge.

Seeing the situation worsening, you stopped holding back and took out the Nine Provinces Cauldron.

"Everyone, into the Cauldron!"

When Long Yang and the others saw the massive, awe-inspiring Nine Provinces Cauldron, they didn't recognize it for a moment.

"Brother Chen, what treasure is that?"

"Say its name and you'll be terrified! If you don't want to die, hurry inside!"

With that, you grabbed Wu Yue and leapt into the Cauldron Realm.

Wu Yue had been busy dodging those space-tearing, strange forces; by the time she reacted, you were already inside the Cauldron Realm.

She only reminded you when you still wouldn't let go.

"You can let go now."

"Oh, when I get nervous I like to hold onto something, I forgot."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Watching the black lightning above grow ever closer, that mysterious force from somewhere unknown capable of ripping space made everyone shiver.

Even the proud geniuses like Long Yang and Baili Su weren't so cocky now.

One after another, everyone jumped into the Cauldron Realm.

Wang Mingbai looked at the big rock he was clutching, hesitated whether to throw it away.

"Forget it, I'll take it with me... Guys wait for me!"

Twenty candidates entered the Cauldron Realm one after another.

This small world, independent from the normal world, opened their eyes.

"Star Source?!"

What astonished them most was a little pool containing a misty liquid, clearly a Starry Domains treasure, the Star Source.

Inside the Star Source they saw a group of Artifact Spirits from Immortal Artifacts and Great Dao Immortal Artifacts soaking inside.

The Demon Refining Pot twisted its spout coquettishly toward them.

"Hey, pretty girls and handsome guys, come play~"

Everyone exchanged glances.

Before they could suspect you as the old Star Source thief, the entire Cauldron Realm shook violently.

"Brother Chen! Your place doesn't look safe either!"

Through the external view provided by Da Chun, you saw that ghost-faced demonic cloud was still continuously releasing terrifying black lightning.

You had already had Da Chun fly toward Yunshu Island.

But those attacks were crazily chasing after the Nine Provinces Cauldron.

Seawater surged, waves rose in countless numbers.

The wind tore through heaven and earth, mountains crumbled and the ground split.

Wails and howls echoed all around.

The candidates gathered around the external view as if watching television.

Long Yang sighed.

"It's aiming at me..."

You stared at him.

"Why do you say that?"

"A fortune-teller once said I'm like a protagonist in a story, the singular child of destiny! Look, the heavens can no longer contain me."

"Shut up..."

Baili Su wasn't far behind.

"Nonsense! Obviously it's aiming at me! I was outside the cauldron earlier and those spatial rifts were hunting me down! When I got inside they started chasing the cauldron! Isn't that obvious?!"

One after another, the prodigies declared themselves the true target.

The Artifact Spirits, baffled by their logic, continued to soak in the pool.

"Enough!"

You shouted, cutting off all the bickering.

"This attack is aimed at me."

Everyone looked at you seriously, their expressions frozen for a few seconds.

Then they all synchronously shrugged and waved dismissively.

"Tch—"

You were speechless.

I am serious here!

Hu Chacha told you that the Dragon-Man Realm had a Grand Priest capable of divining the past and future, calculating fate's secrets.

You had previously destroyed six early Dragon-Man outposts, seriously disrupting their invasion plans.

That Grand Priest could very well have calculated you out, so they were willing to pay any price to snuff you out before you truly grew powerful.

Hu Chacha said, as you could see, these attacks cost the Dragon-Man Realm greatly.

To launch an assault like this is not unlike starting a world war.

That showed the enormity of the price.

Even so, the Dragon-Man Realm still launched a cross-world attack on you.

You guessed the Dragon-Man tribe valued you so highly because they suspected you had extraordinarily powerful precognitive abilities.

Considering humans' ancestors were once wealthy, making the human world a difficult opponent, the Dragon-Men had to eliminate you first as a massive variable.

No cost was too great.

The Nine Provinces Cauldron barreled through countless spatial rifts.

With its indestructible body, it withstood many rounds of attacks.

"Da Chun! Can it hold?!"

"Yi Brother, don't worry! The Cauldron can take it! Wan Brother, Pot Brother, Kun Brother, Armor Brother, all the Crows are helping me!"